Anyone have access to one? I need to make 2 small bends to a stainless steel tubing coil for my home brewery (beer) setup that I'm building.

I have a 50' coil already, but need to make the top and bottom bends you see in this pic:

4/19/2012 10:24:38 PM

copper >>>>>>>>>>>>> stainless

copper price >>>>>> stainless price

4/19/2012 10:26:55 PM

DAMMIT. I meant to post this in the Garage.

4/19/2012 10:29:09 PM

And false. Stainless is much better for me, as I already had the stainless coil. I am repurposing it for this project, thus the need for the bender.

I could sell it I suppose and get a copper coil, but stainless is better for sanitization reasons. And the sanitizer/cleaning products that I have/use on my other equipment does not play nicely with copper.

4/19/2012 10:31:12 PM

ib4spapobff

(In before somebody posts a picture of Bender from Futurama)

4/20/2012 1:24:42 AM

lol, i actually found a picture of bender but managed to restrain myself from posting.

[Edited on April 20, 2012 at 1:40 AM. Reason : ...the picture of bender]

4/20/2012 1:32:55 AM

Quote :

"And false. Stainless is much better for me, as I already had the stainless coil. I am repurposing it for this project, thus the need for the bender."

i have a lot of PVC tubing laying around...doesn't make it better than copper

fact is that copper will make a more effective and efficient wort chiller than stainless...stainless will, of course, work just fine...but you can't claim that a fact is false when it's so obviously an unarguably true

Quote :

"I could sell it I suppose and get a copper coil, but stainless is better for sanitization reasons. And the sanitizer/cleaning products that I have/use on my other equipment does not play nicely with copper."

not sure what you're using to sanitize, but if it "does not play nicely with copper" you're doing it wrong

4/20/2012 7:15:32 AM

please show me evidence that copper makes a more (noticeably) effective wort chiller than stainless on the homebrew scale.

The fact remains that I already have this 50' coil, and I think it would be dumb to pay money for a copper coil if i can make this stainless coil work.

Copper is not cheap anymore either. I agree that copper is better at transfering heat in general, but for our purposes, stainless does just fine. I've been using this 50' stainless coil for a year now as an immersion chiller and it does freakin' great.

Regardless, I dont need a bender anymore. I'm just going to go with 2 90degree compression fittings and call it a day haha.

[Edited on April 20, 2012 at 8:25 AM. Reason : .]

4/20/2012 8:01:43 AM

4/20/2012 10:30:43 AM

Fill the pipe with fine sand so it doesn't kink, cover the ends with tape. Heat the section with a propane torch and you can easily bend it with leather gloves.

4/20/2012 12:21:43 PM

Quote :

"please show me evidence that copper makes a more (noticeably) effective wort chiller than stainless on the homebrew scale. The fact remains that I already have this 50' coil, and I think it would be dumb to pay money for a copper coil if i can make this stainless coil work. Copper is not cheap anymore either. I agree that copper is better at transfering heat in general, but for our purposes, stainless does just fine. I've been using this 50' stainless coil for a year now as an immersion chiller and it does freakin' great."

uh, copper has something like 28 TIMES the thermal conductivity of stainless, kid...i don't give a rat's ass what you use and i certainly understand that you already have it lying around, but don't pretend like you have a clue...stainless is unarguably inferior as a chiller (by a magnitude of around 28), though is preferable for prolonged contact applications since it doesn't oxidize as readily

4/20/2012 5:31:33 PM

Go fist yourself.

Are you telling me that a copper coil is going to chill my beer to X degree 28 times faster than a stainless coil will?

I realize that copper, on paper, is far superior. But in the realworld, it just doesnt make that noticeable of a difference on the homebrew scale. I have dozens of friends who have copper chillers, and my stainless chiller does a great job comparatively. I have zero regrets going with stainless.

If you brew, I invite you to bring your copper chiller over and we shall have a chill-off.

If you chill your wort 28 times as fast as my stainless chiller, I'll kill myself.

With the added fact that I will be recirculating my wort through the chiller using a March (liquid) pump, I dont give a damn if it takes an extra few minutes to chill. There are tons of factors at play here, and you're not taking into consideration the thinner wall on typical stainless steel tubing, as compared to copper tubing. In this application, the heat is transfered through the thinner walled stainless (or copper tubing for that matter) faster than I can flow the liquid through the coil. Again, I realize Cu transfers heat better than stainless, but in this application, chilling 6 gallons of wort from ~212*F to ~70*F, its negligible.




[Edited on April 20, 2012 at 7:35 PM. Reason : .]

4/20/2012 7:08:27 PM

Quote :

"Are you telling me that a copper coil is going to chill my beer to X degree 28 times faster than a stainless coil will?"

of course not...since that's not what i said

4/20/2012 9:48:50 PM

You two are adorable.

4/20/2012 10:06:44 PM

Quote :

"stainless is unarguably inferior as a chiller (by a magnitude of around 28)"

4/20/2012 10:24:11 PM

I have access to several industrial benders . . . I'm not sure if they can handle such small diameter, but I'll check and see if I can help you out. Give me a day or two. I'll take payment in delicious beer.


And really, why is there argument about copper versus stainless steel? Copper is certainly a superior thermal conductor but stainless has the tremendous advantage of being utterly nonreactive and far simpler to clean and sterilize. I could understand if it was a question of which to buy and use (copper is simpler to work with), but if you have a bunch of stainless tubing already why on Earth would you shell out money to switch? Pretty much all professional brewing equipment is stainless for a reason.

4/21/2012 5:45:59 AM

^ it was never an argument...i didn't tell him to go out and buy copper, i simply pointed out that copper is in fact a superior thermal conductor and he said i was wrong

i'm not sure WHY he go so defensive...i'd do exactly the same thing in his position (which i said), except that i wouldn't feel so insecure in my decision

Quote :

"stainless has the tremendous advantage of being utterly nonreactive and far simpler to clean and sterilize"

you should know that it's "sanitize" instead of "sterilize"...heaven knows, i was corrected many times in my early brewing days

in the 8 years of homebrewing and probably 16-18 batches i've made, i have never had to "clean" my copper chiller past hosing it off after use and dipping it in iodine solution before using it again...i already noted that SS is less reactive, but i can't imagine what sort of cleaning anyone would have to do

Quote :

"You two are adorable."

we're in the honeymoon stage...this is all foreplay

[Edited on April 21, 2012 at 7:15 AM. Reason : .]

4/21/2012 7:11:45 AM

I got defensive because you came off as a condescending prick.

Quote :

"but don't pretend like you have a clue"

From my very first post, you knew my parameters and your first post was:

Quote :

"copper >>>>>>>>>>>>> stainless copper price >>>>>> stainless price"

To which I said was false. Because it was in my case. Stainless is the better choice for me in both statements. I wasnt arguing the thermal conductivity of copper vs. stainless. And you didnt state that either. So my assumption was that you were saying that in my situation, copper was better than stainless.

I'm not butthurt about this, i'm just pointing out that any rational person with at least a 3rd grade reading comprehension would have made the same assumption that I did.

I've been brewing for about 4 years now, and I brewed over 200 gallons (~40 batches) last year alone. Dont tell me I dont know what i'm talking about here, kid. [sarcasm]



*sidenote* - My dad owns a recycling facility in High Point, NC. Copper price is a little over $3/lb currently, while stainless is approximately $0.07/lb, lol. People recycle new copper and stainless coils all the time. To which I can purchase from my dad at his price So, if you look at it THAT way, stainless is retardedly cheaper than copper, haha.


Can we have makeup sex now?

[Edited on April 21, 2012 at 10:53 AM. Reason : .]

4/21/2012 10:30:09 AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ot0Cxmk2aa4

get one of those

damn sounds like Street Fighter music

4/21/2012 5:23:13 PM

What wall thickness is it? If it can wait until next weekend I can bring a 3/8" tube bender from work. We bend sst tubing all the time in our shop.

4/21/2012 7:39:51 PM

I really appreciate the offer guys...I believe I've decided to just go with some 90degree compression fittings, so no need to bend the tube I think. I'll PM you guys if I do end up needed it though.

4/21/2012 9:30:22 PM